Eye shadow might seem like the most straightforward makeup product, but in actual fact, nothing is more intimidating than eye shadow application and blending. It’s common to struggle between choosing from the spectrums of colours available and employing the right technique to blend them together. Whether it’s bad blending, choosing the wrong colours or using a heavy-handed application, there’s a lot that can go wrong when applying your eye shadow. Trust us, we’ve made plenty of mistakes with our eye shadow as well. But, with time and practise, we’ve come to learn of some pivotal rules that will make or break the art of professional eye shadow application. Scroll through the gallery below as we uncover the most common eye shadow pitfalls and how to avoid them.

1. You’ve been using poor quality brushes

Ditch the tiny sponge tip applicator that comes with your eye shadow palette, ladies. In fact, throw them all out; you no longer need an excuse for patchy, unblended eye makeup.

When you add a good quality blending brush to your makeup arsenal, you can literally cut down half the amount of time spent trying to blend out the harsh lines of your shadows. A soft and fluffy blending brush will glide over the crease of your eye, feathering out your shadows for a seamless transition between shades.

2. You don’t invest in good quality eye shadows

When an eye shadow formula isn’t up to mark, it can look patchy or powdery on your lids, imposing a vexing process of endless blending to even out the colour. Eyeshadows are tricky mainly because the price of a palette by no means determines its overall quality. Some shadow powders are too hard, too powdery, oh and how about the nightmare of fallouts, not pigmented enough and sometimes even, overly pigmented.

It’s admittedly tough to find the sweet-spot that checks all the right boxes, but a rule of thumb is to always go for shadows with velvety smooth (almost creamy) texture and rich colour payoff. We recommend the Kat Von D Shade + Light Eye Contour Palette if you’re looking for a decent spectrum of nudes to jump start your venture into the wondrous world of eye shadow.

3. You prep your eyes with just a primer

You may think that an eye shadow primer is the miraculous antidote to flawless eye shadow application — nothing can go wrong once you’ve swiped some on before applying your eyeshadow, right? But apparently, primers alone don’t serve as an ample base for your eye shadows; you really need clean and smooth skin to lay your groundwork upon. Start by cleaning your eye area thoroughly with micellar water before applying de-puffing eye cream. Make sure you give the cream ample time to be absorbed before topping it off with your primer. This helps to minimise crepey texture on your lids and also prevents eye shadow fallout and promote even blending.

4. You apply too much product

Avoid picking up too much product on your brushes as it may lead to harsh lines and uneven application that’ll take longer to blend out. It also encourages additional shadow fallout; the stuff of disastrous makeup nightmares. Here’s the eye shadow modus vivendi : Always start with a little bit of product and build the colour up gradually. It’s also advisable to give your brush a taps to shake off the excess before applying onto your eye area to ensure you’re not going in with too much.

5. Be careful with shimmery shadows

Frosty, metallic or even glitter shadows tend to emphasise and draw attention to wrinkles and crepey lids (damn those light-reflecting pigments). Albeit difficult to give up (but they’re just sooo pretty…), shimmery or glittery shades aren’t the best when you want to make ageing eyes look youthful. Instead, opt for a matte or satin-finish shadow for a more flattering look. Try this all-matte palette from Tarte for a spectrum of natural neutrals and blushes.